The present invention relates to a combination fork and in particular to means for assisting in the loading of food onto the tines of the fork.
Many persons who are handicapped such that the full use of their hands is impaired or are afflicted with a debilitating disease such as arthritis often experience considerable difficulty in manipulating eating utensils. This is also a problem with many older persons where the onset of advancing years has seriously reduced their manual dexterity and coordination. This makes eating considerably more difficult for them than for the average person and is often a source of embarrassment when eating in public.
Utensils have been devised for use by handicapped persons, for example, specially constructed knives which enable persons having the use of only one hand to effectively cut meat and other types of food which require cutting before they can be eaten. Nothing has been devised, however, to assist persons of reduced manual dexterity in loading food on a fork. Certain foods such as corn are more difficult to pick up with a fork since the kernels collectively lack cohesiveness and will tend to be pushed about on the plate by the fork before they can finally be scooped up.